I Run to You
by goob21
Summary: When the BAU jet is broken, the team hits the road in order to get to their next case in Idaho. When things go wrong on the road the teams turns to each other to make it through. Main focus on JJ/Em Femslash Morgan/Garcia
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfic that I have published. I got the inspiration for this from a song by Lady Antebellum called "I Run to You"

Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds

I Run to You

_"I Run from pain, I run from prejudice, I run from pessimist, but I run to late"_

"God I hate road trips," Garcia grumbled as the black SUV snaked down the road, "I never get to come with you guys on a trip and the one time I do the stupid plane is broken."

"Well look at it this way sugar mama it's more time you get to spend with me," Derek said as he batted his eyes and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Get a room," came the unison response from the backseat, as JJ and Emily laughed.

"Oh please, if anyone should be getting a room it's you two back there. Don't think I haven't seen the eye fucking you two have been doing this entire ride," Derek shot back laughing.

"Why Emily Prentiss, I do believe you are blushing," Garcia taunted from the front seat.

"Don't worry Em," JJ cooed leaning over and giving her a kiss that sent shock waves down to her toes and left her breathless, "they are just jealous."

"You better not let Hotch see you do that," Garcia grinned, "Emily wouldn't be able to focus for weeks with another kiss like that"

They all laughed as they watched Hotch, Rossi, and Reid's SUV weave around the turn up ahead.

The relationship between the team was something they all summed up as family. What they had been through together over the last couple of years, seeing the true evil within people, had taken their bond as a team to a whole new level. Without each other, they each knew they wouldn't have made it this far. With that bond, however, some of the relationships of the team had grown to something stronger, something the FBI frowned heavily upon: inter-unit relationships.

Hotch as the Unit Chief had fought tooth and nail to keep his "family together, first taking on Strauss when JJ and Emily got together and later when Garcia and Morgan finally revealed their relationship. He knew if it were any other team Strauss would not have thought twice before re-assigning two of his team members, but he also knew she could not deny the statistics that surrounded his team's success. He did have to set some ground rules though, and had to insist that it be kept professional at all times while they were out on a case.

The team's current case put them on the road to Idaho, and with the BAU jet out of service the drive from Quantico, VA would take them almost a full day.

As the two cars stopped so the team could stretch their legs at a back roads gas station, the girls ran inside to restock on road trip snacks while the guys filled up the gas tanks.

"Did you know that 72% of all gas station explosions can be equated to the static electricity caused from talking on your cell phone," Reid threw out.

"Good to know," Rossi said as he moved further away from the gas pump to make a call.

"Good lord what are they buying in there, the whole store?!" Hotch grumbled looking down at his watch.

"Why don't you guys go on ahead, and we will catch up with you somewhere down the road," Morgan suggested knowing that the two vehicles could meet up along the way before they reached Idaho.

"Sounds good," Hotch replied before heading to his vehicle with Reid and Rossi, "Make sure you guys switch up drivers as it gets into the night, I want everyone fresh when we arrive tomorrow." Derek nodded before heading into the store to wrangle the girls.

"oh I don't know it's such a hard choice," JJ admitted trying to decide between the Goobers or the Sweet Tarts Emily held in her hands.

"Come on Jayj, we gotta go," Morgan laughed from the front of the aisle.

"Well I got all I want," Garcia scooted past them already digging into her box of candy.

"What you got there baby girl?" Morgan called, and laughed when Garcia showed him her half eaten box of Sugar Daddies.

"I thought you already had a sugar daddy," he smiled slyly slipping his hand around her waist and pulling her to him.

"Ok we can go," Emily called from the door before JJ said "race ya" and Emily couldn't help but run off after her.

"How old are you two?" Morgan laughed getting back into the SUV and pulling back onto the highway.

5 hours later and in the middle of nowhere Indiana, Morgan glanced at Garcia as she almost prrrd as she slept in the passenger seat. He couldn't help but reach over and run his hand down her beautiful face. "I don't know what I would do without you," he whispered.

"Well you definitely wouldn't be as fun," came the unexpected reply from the back seat as JJ positioned herself in the middle and leaned forward so their conversation wouldn't wake Pen and Emily.

"Jesus, JJ you about gave me a heart attack," Derek said still trying to catch his breath.

"sorry didn't mean to scare you"

"it's true though," he admitted looking over again at the sleeping Garcia, "I really don't know what I would do without her JJ."

"Well I have it on good authority that she would be pretty miserable without you too Derek."

He focused his eyes on the road again. "How long before you knew Emily was the one for you?"

JJ was silent for a minute, "Well we had only been dating for a couple of months, and we had just gotten home from that serial killer case in Michigan, you remember the one?" He nodded.

"For some reason I was having a harder time than usual. I guess it was because the case had been sitting on my desks for weeks and by the time we got there he had already killed two more girls."

_Flashback_

_JJ met Emily's eyes from across the parking lot before getting into her Honda Accord. She just couldn't tonight. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to forget the faces of those girls. It was her fault they were dead. _

_Pulling into her drive way and walking into her dark house that was momentarily lit by the lighting outside, JJ collapsed onto her foyer floor racked with sobs she couldn't hold in anymore. She didn't know how long she had lay there before she heard a knock on her door._

"_Emily… what are you doing here?"_

_Soaking wet and shivering, JJ pulled Emily inside._

"_Jayj," the dripping Emily said as lifted JJ's head until she was sure her eyes were looking into hers. JJs puffy eyes tried to pull away but Emily held her stare. "There is nothing in this world you can't come to me with. I will always be here no matter what."_

_All JJ could do was fall into her lovers arms as the sobs overtook her once more. _

"That's how I knew, Derek. Emily is the kindest, caring, most amazing person I know and in that moment I knew she was the one for me."

"Wow girl, and here I am thinking it's all about the sex," he joked as JJ smacked his arm.

"Well I didn't say there weren't some added bonuses," she laughed.

"If I show you something, will you promise not to tell anyone," Derek asked getting serious again.

"Yeah, of course"

He rummaged around in his coat pocket before bringing out the little box to show JJ.

"Is that what I think it is?" She gasped.

"I have had it for awhile now," he lamented, actually having had the ring for over 2 months now, "I just can't seem to find the right time."

"Don't worry you will know when the time is right. Could I see it?" He handed her the ring box.

"Wow, Derek, she is going to love it," JJ said mesmerized by the beautiful 2 carat diamond solitaire that's bands held alternating sapphires and diamonds.

"You think so?" he asked worriedly

"Are you kidding me?!" she practically screamed and then looked around hoping she didn't wake Emily or especially Pen, "She will be putty in your hands once you slip this little baby on her finger!"

He couldn't help but laugh at the small blonde in the back. JJ always had a way of reassuring him when he doubted things the most. She was like a sister to him and he knew he was lucky to have her in his life.

He yawned.

"Hey you want me to drive for awhile?" she asked handing him back the box.

"No it's all good, I got a few more hours left in me," he winked back at her through the rearview mirror.

"Alright well please wake me up if you get tired"

He reached back to give her knew a thankful squeeze, "Emily is really lucky to have you, you know."

"No, we are lucky we have each other," she placed her hand on top of his before settling back in to her side of back seat and drifting off to sleep.

As Derek glanced at the box in his hand and then over at Penelope still sleeping peacefully next to him, he didn't notice the deer run out in the middle of the road until all he could do was swerve.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_"This world keeps spinning faster to a new disaster so I run to you"_

Indiana Highway-47 is a road whose past is marked by small crosses on its shoulder; fathers, daughters, husbands, friends all memorialized on the road that claimed their lives.

The drop on both sides is enough to make the bravest of travelers hug the center line, daring not to venture near the embankment… that is unless one is unlucky enough to be forced to swerve…

Her head was pounding and the fog that surrounded her consciousness made it feel as though the noises and sounds were those from a dream. _Damn this dream hurts like hell. Wait someone is calling my name. Why do they sound so far away? There it is again… they are closer this time. Again. _She feels a warm touch on her face.

"Emily, Emily can you hear me?" he calls and watches as her eyes begin to flutter open.

"Derek?... wh.. what happened?" she mutters her eyes searching for answers at the man who is leaning over her.

"We've been in an accident," _she can hear his voice, see his lips moving but why can't she understand him? _"Emily, Emily are you hurt? Emily I need you to focus on me."

"Ok yeah," she nods her head as she is pulled from her mental fog.

"Are you hurt?" he asks again.

"Um I don't know," _wait an accident… where is JJ?!!! _Her mind screams at her.

She looks at Derek standing in her open door. "Derek, where, where is JJ?"

The look on his face sends her into a panic.

"Derek, where is she?!" she demands trying to pull away from his grasp and turn to the other side of the car.

"Em, Em! She is right beside you, look she is right there," he tries to calm her fears.

Emily turns slowly from his hold, wincing in pain as she looks to the other side of the car.

The car lay slanted almost on its side, held up only by a tree firmly implanted on its right side. The SUV has been bent almost in half, as both sides were wrapped snugly around its trunk…its trunk that was now forcing itself through the right back seat…the seat where her wife is nestled unconscious.

"Oh God, JJ," Emily tries to move closer to her trapped wife. She can't help but notice the awkward angle of her leg and the thick trail of blood that flowed down the right side of her neck and onto her once perfectly white shirt.

"JJ, baby can you hear me? Please baby if you can hear me, I need you to open your eyes."

"Derek we got to get her out of here," Emily calls to him never taking her eyes off of her wife.

"I know Em," she feels his hand slowly trying to pull her back towards him and out of the car.

"No, I want to stay in there with her, I want to be beside her, please Derek she needs me!"

She tries to pull away from his grasp as her feet hit the slanted slope of the embankment causing her to wobble. He steadies her and places his hands on her arms to get her attention.

"Emily, we are going to get JJ out of there, but we have to think about this first."

_Oh God, wait what about Pen. _As if to read her thoughts Derek points to a figure lying on the ground not far away.

"Looks like she has a broken arm, and a pretty good gash on her head, but other than that I think she is going to be ok." She nods allowing the first tears to roll down her cheek.

"Emily, I need you to focus. I need you to tell me if you are hurt," he says pulling her eyes to his.

"I'm fine, please Derek we need to get JJ out of there!"

"Emily, look at me. We are going to get her out of there, but first I need to make sure you are alright. I promise I won't let anything happen to her." Something in his eyes tells her to listen. She knows Derek loves JJ and would do anything to make sure she was safe.

She nods. "I don't think I have anything serious, just a concussion and maybe a few bruised ribs. What, what about you?"

"Just a few cuts and bruises but nothing life threatening," he assures her, "We need to get JJ out of the car, I can't tell how badly she is hurt, and I don't know if it is safe to move her, but we have to get her out of the car before it slides any further down the embankment."

"How do you think we should do this?" trying to keep her emotions from overtaking her, knowing that the best thing she can do for JJ right now is keep her head.

"From what I can tell, the tree is the only thing keeping the car from sliding further down. We have to find a way to get JJ out without transferring too much of the weight to the front of the vehicle."

As if on cue, the car gave a jolt forward causing Emily to race towards it. Derek was barely able to catch her before she was able to dive into the back seat.

More forceful now Derek pulled her back to him. "Emily, if you go diving into that car, both you and JJ are going down that hill, do you hear me?!"

His voice was more forceful than he had wanted and he wanted more than anything to jump into the back seat and pull JJ out, but right now he knew it would kill them both.

He pulled her to his chest and set his head on top of hers as she choked back tears into his chest. After a minute, she gathered her composure again and began to pull away. As she did, they both heard a moan coming from Pen. They rushed to her side.

"Hey there baby girl, you decide to join us again." Derek said stroking her cheek.

"What the hell happened?! I feel like the Redskins offensive line just trampled over me and beat me with the goal post."

"Do you think you can sit up?" Emily asked

Derek and Emily helped Garcia into a sitting position.

"Wow so like I said what the hell happened?!"

"It's my fault baby, I didn't see it in the road until it was too late. I tried to swerve and…" his voice trailed off as tears filled his eyes.

"Hey this is not your fault baby. It could have happened to anyone." Garcia pulled her boy into a hug.

"Are you alright?" he asked pulling back again careful of her damaged arm.

"Well," looking herself over, "besides a hell of a headache and an arm that looks the wishbone my brother and me use to snap at Thanksgiving when we were little, I think I am ok. How about you guys, you ok, and what about JJ, is she ok?"

Terror filled her eyes as Derek and Emily looked at each other without answering her.

"Tell me where she is Derek!" Pen demanded trying to push herself up from the ground with her good arm.

"Baby you need to stay here," he tried to force her back down.

"Derek what I need right now is for you to tell me where the hell my best friend is!!!" the fire now clearly burning in her eyes.

"Pen," Emily knelt down next to her, "She is still in the car."

"She's wha..she's still in the car?!" she didn't understand, _why was JJ still in the car?! _

"Well, why are we all standing here," she said this time getting to her feet before Emily or Derek could stop her. She made her way towards the destroyed SUV and stopped in her tracks as she made it to the left back door. _Oh god, JJ. No no this isn't happening, not to you my sweet girl. _

Derek and Emily reached her before she could force herself to move again.

"Baby girl we are going to get her out, but if we shift the weight of the car, it could cause the whole thing to go down the hill," he said pulling her into a hug

She pulled back to look him in the eye. "Alright let's get my girl out!" she reached and took hold of Emily's hand knowing she would need to be the strength for the both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_"When it all starts coming undone, baby you're the only one I run to_"

"ok here we go…. One, two three push," came Derek's call.

Pen and Emily had positioned themselves along the back left side of the SUV. As Derek was about to make his way through the back seat door to JJ, they pushed with all the strength they had, digging their heels into the ground as their backs tried to hold the large vehicle in place.

Derek worked quickly to get to his friend, knowing time was not on his side.

He worked his way carefully to JJ's side. He tried to release the seatbelt but found it jammed.

_Damn it._

After a few seconds it gave. Slowly, trying to move his unconscious friends as little as possible, he inched her back towards the open door as he heard Pen and Emily holding their ground the best they could.

"That's it, I got ya Jayj. Just hang in there a little bit longer." Derek didn't expect an answer. They were almost there.

He had one foot out the door and on the ground.

_Just a little bit more, slowly_

Then he felt it.

His foot slipped.

Derek fell to the ground forcing JJ to release from his grasp and fall awkwardly to the floor of the car. He tried to force himself up again as the car began to slide past him.

He heard Garcia call his name as he narrowly missed bashing his head against the bumper that spun past him.

"No JJ!!" He yelled as the car slid into the darkness.

Before the girls could reach him, he was on his feet racing down after the disappearing SUV, thanking God that the moon provided enough light to see where he was going. He knew Emily and Penelope would be right behind him.

The car sounded like a train making its way down the steep slope…taking whatever was in its path with it.

He ran in the darkness dodging trees and the depris left in the wake of the SUV

He ran for Emily, for the life her and JJ deserved to have together.

He ran for himself, for the guilt that was growing inside him with each frantic breath he took.

He ran for the amazing girl that didn't derserve this.

Derek heard the sound but before his mind could recognize it, he was already knee deep in the frigid water.

The back end was all that was visible of the destroyed SUV now, as Derek took a breath and dove into the dark water. Moments later he came up for air and went down again,

and again.

He could hear Emily's panicked screams for her wife from the shore.

Then he saw it through the clouded waters of the lake.

A light… the light from the roof of the car.

He worked his way to the left side of the car and pulled the door open. His lungs screamed for air, and the burning in his chest begged him to take a breath.

_Almost there, damn it, almost. _

Then he had her.

Coughing and stumbling he cradled her in his arms as he trudged from the lake. Emily and Pen racing to meet him.

"Lay her down here," Emily's voice was barely recognizable through the sobs.

Derek lay her on the muddy bank and leaned his head so his ear was directly over her mouth.

Nothing.

"She's not breathing!!" he said before immediately blowing two breaths into her mouth.

Nothing.

Two more.

Nothing.

"Damn it JJ, don't you do this to me," he begged her.

Two more breaths.

Nothing.

"Please baby, breathe, please just breathe for me," Emily sobbed as she stroked JJ's hair.

Two more breaths.

A cough,

yes another one.

Emily leaned down to kiss JJ's forehead as the two most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen starred up at her.

"Em?" she whispered her voice barely audible.

Emily pulled her into her lap and cradled her in her arms. "Yeah, baby, I'm right here. Everything is going to be alright, I am right here"

JJ tried to wet her lips to say something else, but the chatter of her teeth wouldn't allow the words to come out. She was so cold.

"We are going to get you warm, sweetheart, I just need you to keep those beautiful blue eyes open, ok."

Penelope made quick work at getting her jacket off, ignoring the pain that ripped through her arm. She lay it over top of JJ and reached out to hold her hand.

"Not the best night for a swim, sunshine," she kissed her hand giving her best friend the best smile she could as Derek moved quickly in search of something he could use to start a fire not allowing the others to see the tears that streamed down his already wet cheeks.

He returned minutes later with enough wood to try to get a spark going. As he frantically worked to produce a spark, Emily and Pen did everything in their power to keep JJ awake.

Rubbing her body, Emily was determined to keep her wife with her.

"No no no Jayj, don't close your eyes," she begged her, "Just a little while longer," she bent down and kissed JJ, just a soft and simple kiss that made JJ open her eyes again. "That's it baby, just keep looking at me."

"Yeah now who needs to get a room," Garcia quipped desperate to distract them from the situation. It worked as JJ did her best to smile and relieve the worry in her best friend's eyes.

"I was hoping to spend a night under the stars with you anyway baby," Emily said as she stroked her wife's cold face.

"Em..I..I love you," JJ managed to whisper as her eyes met the gorgeous brown ones she had fallen so deeply in love with.

"I love you to Jen, and don't you dare think about leaving me you hear me," Emily choked back a sob.

JJ let her eyes slide shut for a moment as she did her best to reassure Emily with a nod.

"YYYEEEESSSS!" came the yell from where Derek had been working to start a fire.

JJ's eye's shot open and Pen and Emily basically jumped out of their skin, as Derek practically did a war dance around his now bright, and glowing flames. He ran back to the girls at the edge of the water, and scooped JJ up from Emily's lap, careful as not to hurt her.

"My knight in shining armor," she said as he cradled her in his arms with Emily supporting her neck and head.

"Well now you are officially delirious," he smiled down at her before sinking to his knees and handing her again to Emily. "Here you go, easy, easy. Now lets get you warm baby girl."

Emily looked up at Derek as she held JJ as close to the fire as she dared. "She is right you know, you are a knight in shining armor," she said reaching for her friend's hand, "I don't know how I can ever thank you Derek, you saved her."

He shook his head and looked down at the frail and pale figure of his best friend, the amazing girl who had been so happy and full of life just hours before. Now he couldn't hold back the tears that ran freely down his cheeks as he thought he may never see that beautiful light shine in her eyes again. He didn't know if he would ever be able to forgive himself for putting her through this.

**Ok this chapter was hard for me to get out, the right words just didn't seem to come. I am ok with how it turned out though. Hope you enjoyed it. please let me know what you think. Thank you to all who have reviewed so far!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"_We run on fumes, your life and mine like the sands of time, spinning right on through"_

"Reid how much longer you think we have" Hotch questioned from the front seat

"Well, without looking at a map for confirmation, I would say we have about 4 hours left that is if you keep going at the constant speed you have been going for the past 8 hours which is about.."

"That's good Reid, I think I get the idea"

Rossi hung up the phone after leaving the seventh message on JJ's phone. "Still not answering"

"I wonder if she left her car charger back at the office." Hotch stated with no real concern entering his voice.

"Yeah so you are saying that Morgan, Garcia, Emily **AND** JJ all left their phone chargers back in Quantico and that's why no one is answering their phone?" Rossi asked raising his eyebrow at the fearless leader.

"Ok so I admit it's a little off, but they could be in that cellular dead zone we passed a couple hours back" Reid stated from the back seat not really sure if he should take sides or not.

"Ok but I don't have a good feeling, and no boss man it is not the tacos I ate last night," Rossi finished before Hotch could get the words out of his mouth.

Lightly smiling, Hotch shook his head, "I'm sure they are fine, Dave, but if Reid is right and they are somewhere without service, it can't last forever. We will try them again in an hour or so."

Not fully satisfied but willing to let the conversation go for now, David Rossi sat back in his seat to "admire" the blur of Nebraska wheat fields, but he didn't have a good feeling and if Rossi had learned one thing in all his years it was that that was never a good thing.

Morgan woke to the sunlight that barely presented itself in the early morning dawn. He looked down to the figure of his beautiful, sleeping girlfriend who had positioned herself into the crook of his arm with her head laying directly on top of his chest. Right above the heart she owned.

On any other morning, this would have been perfect. Waking up with the love of his life wrapped safely in his arms, content to let the outside world pass them by as the snuggled under the covers all day never wanting to let go of each other.

But that reality was not today.

Sitting up, he felt the cruel twinges of pain creep up his lower back from the awkward position he had been lying in for the last couple of hours. As he maneuvered Penelope off him careful not to wake her, Derek took in his surroundings.

Their area was a lot different than he remembered in the moonlight of the previous night. He knew they were lucky in all the chaos as he gazed at the daunting slope before him. The man upstairs had been the only one who had kept him from tumbling head over heels last night and falling to what would have surely been his death.

"I don't know if we are going to be able to get back up it" came Emily's voice that instantly pulled him from his thoughts.

She sat leaning against the tree that was closest to what had been a powerful fire hours before, but was now barely aglow with orange embers. She held JJ in her lap, as her hand absent mindedly stroked her wife's pale face.

Derek knelt down in front of the pair.

"I don't know if she is asleep or unconscious" she said more to herself than to Derek.

"Em why don't you let me hold her for a while why you get some sleep"

She looked up at him. The pain in her eyes tore through him like a knife.

"I can't lose her Derek" she whispered as tears fell down her already tear streaked face.

He took hold of her hand and waited for her gaze to meet his.

"Em I promise I am going to get us out of this." He paused. "Let me take her for just a little while. She is going to need you when she wakes up." He tried to sound reassuring but something told him Emily saw right through him.

Still she nodded and began to shift JJ's weight into Morgan's waiting arms.

He pulled her close to his body hoping some of his body heat would transfer into her still cold frame. He watched as Emily stood slowly wincing as her ribs rejected the movement and walked off towards the lake.

Derek looked down at the small blonde in his arms, and couldn't help but see past the bruises, the cuts, and the blood. She was still the beautiful, vivacious girl tornado he had met when she was new to the BAU. He smiled at the memory.

_Flashback_

"_Reid did you forget to refill the coffee maker?!" Morgan yelled from the break room._

"_No that would be me" came a voice Derek wasn't familiar with._

_Standing in the doorway was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Not solely for her looks, although he had to admit her blonde hair and blue eyes would bring down almost any guy, but it was something in the way she carried herself. He couldn't quite pin it down from first glance but he knew this woman was something to behold._

"_Jennifer Jareau," she said extending her hand to him, "sorry about the coffee."_

"_Derek Morgan," he said accepting her hand shake. _

"_Illinios, all-American quarterback, went on the play college ball before you tore up your knee. Joined the FBI graduated one of the top of your class from the Academy, been working with the BAU for the past 3 years." She smiled at his bewildered expression. _

"_Well I believe you have me at a loss Agent Jareau," he said not really sure about the intriguing blonde in front of him. _

"_Its my job to know," she said quickly before turning to leave leaving him there with a smile slowly spreading across his mouth. _

He couldn't help but laugh to himself at the memory of their first meeting. He had been even more surprised when she had waltzed into the BAU conference room and stood in front of him to brief he and the team about their newest case. He knew then that Jennifer Jareau was going to bring a new light to their dreary team.

As he reached to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear, she stirred in his arms and her eyes fluttered open.

"Well it's about time sleepy head" he smiled down at her.

She tried to return his smile, but the shaking of her body betrayed her.

"How bad is it Jayj" Derek asked as he knew the adrenaline was now gone and the pain of her injuries were racking her body.

"Not. To. Bad" she tried to assure him.

"Glad to see you are still as stubborn as ever"

"Well wouldn't want to disappoint" she was able to get out before she had to grit her teeth as another wave of pain ran through her body.

"What else besides the leg?" he asked because knowing just from looking at the compound fracture in her right femur just above the knee that there was little they would be able to do for it.

"I..I'm.. not really sure" she admitted weakly.

It was then that Garcia decided to plop herself down next to the two.

"Ah well good morning my two favoritest people in the whole wide world" she said stretching her arms and yawning.

Derek and JJ couldn't help but grin at their crazy friend for always seeming to know just what to say to lighten the mood.

However, not wanting to forget his mission of finding out if there was something he could do to help JJ, Morgan decided to enlist Garcia's help.

"Hey baby girl will you take JJ for a minute" he asked before placing JJ in Garcia's lap. She seemed to understand his unspoken message of "keep JJ talking" so he could take a look for other injuries hopefully before Emily returned.

Never missing a beat Garcia quickly launched into a rather embarrassing story that involved him, a lot of alcohol, and a night in jail.

The cut on her head had stopped bleeding, and he hoped that it wouldn't open up again. Blood loss and the cold were not two things that would mix well for JJ.

Moving to see what other injuries she might have internally, Derek pulled Garcia's jacket off of her before lifting JJ's dress shirt a little to reveal the massive bruising down her right side. Shaking his head before meeting JJ's eyes, "you broke a couple of ribs, and my guess is one punctured your lung," he said having listened to her ragged breaths moments earlier as she slept.

"Yeah I figured, it hurts to breathe" she told him.

"What do we do for that" Garcia asked desperately.

"Nothing right now baby girl, if it gets worse we will have to find something to relieve the pressure," he told her without looking up.

He felt a hand cover his and he looked up to meet JJ's gaze.

"It's ok" she told him placing her hand over his.

"Well, I'm not going to be the one to take Emily's wrath when she finds out you are awake and we didn't come get her immediately," Garcia said trying once again to lessen the somber mood, "Nope, no siree, that woman scares long johns off of me!"

The two watched as Garcia quickly towards Emily's figure standing at the banks of the lake.

When she had gone, JJ shifted closer to Morgan and waited for him to look at her even if it meant he would have to show her his tears.

Finally his eyes met hers.

"You see that beautiful brunette over there," JJ started without breaking her lock with Derek's eyes.

He nodded.

"She is the part of this world that completes me," she continued.

He knowingly nodded again and waited a few minutes for her to continue.

"You see that beautiful blonde standing next to her," JJ asked as he pulled her closer to him.

Again he could only nod as he glanced to where Garcia was talking to Emily.

"She is the part of this world that completes you," JJ finished as her own tear trickled down her pale cheek.

"JJ" Derek started before he was cut off

"Listen Derek if that box is still in your pocket, then that ring is not where it belongs."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"_Our love's the only truth, that's why I run to you"_

_You can do this. You have been holding on to this for over three months now. You love her. _These thoughts and more ran through Derek Morgan's head as he approached the two women talking by the lake.

He glanced back to the figure of his best friend and although he couldn't see her face as she lay propped against the tree, something told him she was giving him the biggest smile imaginable and the biggest kick in the ass to move him forward.

He gave the box in his pocket a squeeze for reassurance before closing the distance to the girls. Derek placed a hand on Emily's shoulder. It was clear from the look in her eyes that Garcia had explained what they had discovered about JJ's injuries.

Without saying a word, Emily placed her hand over top of his and moved off to be with her wife.

He silently thought to himself that he hoped he never had to be in her place, fearing for the love of his life.

Pulling himself back to reality, he noticed the curious look Penelope was giving him.

_Ok this is it, Morgan, you can do this. _

"Baby girl," he started but the words he formed in his mind where having a hard time making it out of his mouth.

Penelope stood starring deep into those chocolate eyes looking for something that could give a clue as to what would make her scrumptious dark teddy bear stutter so much. She could tell by his expressions, however, that what he was about to say was important. She waited for him to find the words not interrupting him as he grew quiet again.

"Baby girl," he started over, taking her hands in his, "I always wondered if there was someone special out there for me. After some of the things I have seen and done in my life, I didn't know if I really deserved to have love in my life," he stopped as the tears filled both of their eyes. "That is until I saw you, Pen. I saw you that first day with your crazy pink hair and your um well interesting outfit," they were both laughing now. "I knew at that moment when you looked at me and called me your 'sinfully sweet chocolate bar of love" that someone out there was taking a chance on me and I had to do everything in my power not to let it pass me by. I know along the way I have screwed up sometimes, but I want you to know baby, not for one second have I have stopped loving you." The tears were no flowing down both of their cheeks as he bent to take a knee.

She let out a whispered gasp as he continued.

"Penelope Garcia, you are the part of this world that completes me, and if you will have me I will promise to love you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me baby girl?"

He barely had time to get all the words out before she flew into his arms.

"Of course I will Derek, I have never wanted anything more in my whole life," she said still wrapped tightly in his arms.

As they pulled apart, their lips met and Derek Morgan knew that he was the luckiest man in the world.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THAT'S IT! Hotch turn around now!" Rossi bellowed from the passenger seat, after snapping shut his cell phone for the hundredth time that day.

"What did they say Dave?" Hotch questioned as he pulled over onto the shoulder.

"What did they say?! Aaron they didn't say anything. There is no sign of the SUV anywhere along the route. No law enforcement has spotted them from Nebraska back to Indiana. No one in that car has answered their phone all morning, and I have had enough. Something isn't right and we are going to find out what it is," Rossi demanded red faced.

Glancing into the back seat to see if the boy genius cared to weigh in, Hotch caught Reid's worried expression.

"Hotch something's not right. They should have been well past that dead zone by now, and according to my calculations even if they had stopped for dinner last night and breakfast this morning, someone should have spotted them around Omaha if not further into Grand Island," Reid insisted.

Hotch had to admit, he felt the gnawing since of not right about the whole situation, but the rational side of him had been keeping him driving towards the case in Idaho for the last 4 hours. Now, however, the evidence or better the lack of evidence that his colleagues, no his friends, were ok was too much for him to ignore any longer.

With a swift turn of the wheel, he had the SUV back in the direction they had just come from. Turning on the sirens, to one make their journey unimpeded and two to show Reid and Rossi that his gut told him something was wrong, Aaron Hotchner sped back down Nebraska Interstate 80 praying that his instincts weren't as legendary as the FBI had come to call them.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What are you smiling at beautiful," Emily asked with a smile as she neared JJ.

"That" JJ smiled wryly as she managed enough strength to lift her hand and point back in the direction of Morgan and Garcia.

Emily couldn't help but chuckle as she turned to see Derek down on one knee. "Well I have to say its about time!" she said turning back to sit down next to JJ and pull her wife to her.

"I'm so happy for them Em. I can't think of any two people who deserve to be happy more than them." JJ said as she lay her head in the crook of Emily's neck.

They were silent for a minute just observing their friends in the distance now wrapped in each other's arms.

"Emily Prentiss is that a tear I see" JJ asked playfully.

"No," she said half heartedly as she tried to quickly wipe it away.

"What is it baby"

Emily didn't answer right away

"I was just thinking of that moment you told me you wanted to be with me forever," she said honestly now turning to stare deep into those ocean blue eyes, "It was the best moment of my life."

"Mine too Em, mine too" JJ nuzzled closer to the women she loved before Emily pulled her into a simple but passionate kiss.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the other ones. Again i am not really happy with how it turned out but i feel like i was able to get across most of what i wanted. If you want a flashback of how Emily proposed to JJ i will be glad to write it, i just couldn't think of the right scenario for the moment. Thank you thank you to all who have reviewed so far! **


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I know, I know it has been forever. I apologize for the delay. I hope it was worth it. No quote this chapter, didn't feel it needed one. Happy reading!

Chapter 6

Emily watched as Morgan took Garcia into his lap and held his wife to be close, while they escaped the events of the last day for at least a bit.

Gazing down at the now sleeping blonde in her lap, she cringed at how ragged JJ's breathing sounded.

"Ssh baby, I'm right here, just rest," she coaxed running a soothing touch across JJ's cheek.

She smiled as JJ seemed to relax into her touch.

_How did I get so lucky? _Emily thought.

When Emily had finally stopped trying to hide from her sexuality, she had prayed to find someone half as good as JJ to share her life with. But now, looking back at all the memories of their life together, Emily couldn't help but wonder why JJ had said yes to her on that disaster of an evening.

_Flashback…_

_Emily took a final deep breath before placing the small box back into her coat pocket and stepping into the cold night air._

"_Get it together, Emily," she silently chastised herself for being so nervous._

_Walking towards to entrance to the restaurant the team had chosen to have a rare nice evening out at, Emily did a couple of stutters steps and turn arounds before finally forcing herself to grab the door handle._

_As she pulled the door open, she took a last glance at the ring box before going to place it once again in her pocket. _

_Just then the door came flying open knocking Emily to the ground and the ring box from her hand._

"_Emily, what the.." Morgan couldn't finish his question through the laughter that overcame him seeing Emily knocked on her backside._

"_OH SHIT!" she yelled scrambling up and ignoring her friends laughter._

"_you alright there Prentiss" he asked getting his laughter fit under control._

"_NO Derek, holy crap this is a sign! I knew this wouldn't go right. The powers that be are against us" she rambled now searching the surrounding area on hands and knees._

_Wondering what the hell the babbling brunette was doing, Derek knelt next to her, "Emily what, what are you looking for?"_

"_the ring, Derek, the ring" she cried back as if the answer was obvious._

"_what ring?" he didn't quite grasp the situation._

"_The RING" she said again loudly._

"_Em, WHAT ring?" he asked putting his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him._

"_THE RING DEREK!" she said with greater emphasis._

"_the ring, holy shit you mean THE ring!" _

"_Yes Derek, that is what I said!" Emily said breaking free from his grasp to continue her frantic search, "the one someone up there obviously doesn't want me to use to ask JJ to be my wife," she finished forcefully._

"_ok lets stay calm, its gotta be here somewhere right," Derek said becoming a little panicked himself _

_Their search was interrupted momentarily as Garcia burst through the door bashing Morgan in the head as she did. _

"_Ouch baby girl," he said rubbing his head._

"_Derek, what in the" but for once in her life Penenlope Garcia wasn't able to finish her sentence at the sight of two of her best friends on all fours, in nice clothes, out front of a four star restaurant apparently looking for something._

"_Baby girl would you mind stop laughing and get down here and help us!" Derek said pulling her down to help in their search._

"_Well my dark Adonis, it would help if I actually knew what I was looking for,"_

"_She lost the ring," Morgan said at almost a whisper pointing to where Emily was scrounging in a pocket of grass, oblivious to anything around her as she continued to mumble incoherently._

"_What ring," Garcia looked at him confused._

"_THE ring babe," he said nodding slowly for emphasis._

"_I'm sorry handsome but you are going to have to be more specific, that second glass of wine is making me fuzzy,"_

"_THE ring baby girl, JJ's engagement ring" _

"_WHAT?! Oh my God!" she said immediately separating herself from Derek to look in the bushes._

"_How many FBI agents does it take to find a ring" Derek mused to himself as he crawled to the storm drain at the edge of the sidewalk, glancing over at Emily who could still be heard babbling on about how God certainly did not want her to be happy and then over to the technical analyst trampling every bush in sight for the elusive box._

_And that is exactly how their Unit Chief found them._

"_What is going on out here," he demanded certain his eyes were playing tricks on him._

"_No time boss man this is a crisis!" Garcia cried pulling Hotch to the bush beside her, "looking for a ring in a black box here!"_

"_Oh what ring?" he said straightening._

"_No time just look" came Morgan's half muffled reply as he tried to peer down into the storm drain._

_Sensing the urgency, Hotch decided it was best to ask questions later._

_Several minutes, that felt like hours, later, Garcia jumped up suddenly screaming "I found it. I found it" _

_The others immediately raced to where she was still standing knee deep in bushes._

"_Oh Garcia! Thank you thank you thank you" Emily cried squeezing the blonde. _

"_No problem cupcake, but since finders keepers doesn't really apply in this situation can my consolation prize be a sneak peek?" she asked as the group made their way towards the door._

_How could sEmily refuse after the trio had spent the last 30 minutes helping her._

_She smiled and opened the box to show her friends just what they had been searching for._

"_Jeeze Prentiss, just how much are you worth," Derek quipped taking in the size of the solitaire diamond that sat on a band that was also solid diamonds._

"_I just wanted something deserving of J" but the last letter of her girlfriend's name was left in her throat as the door sprung open once again as Spencer Reid made his presence known. _

_However, upon his arrival the ring box flew from Emily's hand and as if it were a scene from a movie, the box catapulted into the air, knocking lose the sparkling ring. _

_Time seem to move in slow motion as everyone, save Reid, ran forward yelling "NOOOOO"_

_It was no use however, as the ring skidded across the pavement and right into the drain Morgan had been searching earlier. _

"_God hates me" Emily said in a daze as she fell to her knees beside the grates of the drain. And with no emotions to sum up exactly how she felt, she started laughing. _

_The others could only look at her in shock as Reid ran up beside them._

"_Hey what are you guys doing out here," he asked innocently, "we have been waiting for."_

"_YOU!" Emily screamed gaining her composure having heard the man's voice she held responsible for what had just happened. _

_Reid had to jump back as Emily lunged for him only to be caught mid leap by Morgan._

"_Easy there, Prentiss, the kid didn't mean it" Morgan said as Emily flailed against his grasp._

"_Mean what?" Reid inquired still innocently_

"_You lost the ring again, genius!" Garcia said exacerbated_

"_What ring?" _

"_JJ's engagement ring" Pen, Morgan, and a slightly more in control Emily yelled back in unision._

"_I didn't know JJ was engaged. When did she get engaged?" Reid sounded a little hurt at having missed his good friend's announcement. _

"_She's not yet Reid." Garcia said shaking her head_

"_And by the looks of it she might never be," now Emily's anger had turned to heartbreak._

"_Oh buttercup, don't say that," Garcia said pulling the other women close, "we are going to get that ring if it kills us." _

"_I can see it" Hotch called having moved to look into the drain while everyone was distracted._

_Moving quickly to kneel down beside him, the group peered down into the dark depths._

"_Yeah, right there, I see it too!" Morgan said pointing to the small glint of sparkle the ring produced._

"_ok," Hotch said in his best Unit Chief voice, "does anyone have some chewing gum?" _

"_Oh I do" No one was surprised when Garcia spoke up._

"_Ok what about some string," Hotch asked next._

"_oh right here," Garcia said again digging into her Mary Poppins of a bag and pulling out a ball of yarn, "never know when a girl is going to have time to knit."_

_Taking the gum and tying the string around it, Hotch lowered the contraption down into the drain._

"_Wow, never took you for a McGyver," Morgan laughed but was soon swatted on the arm by Garcia._

"_Actually in episode 37 McGyver used a magnet and a," Reid began _

"_SHUT UP REID!" came the collective interruption._

_A few minutes later, the group cheered as Aaron "McGyver" Hotchner pulled the elusive ring from between the grates. _

_Placing the box safely back in the box, a frazzled Emily looked up at the group that surrounded her._

"_Thank you guys," she said softly hoping it was enough to convey how truly grateful she was for their help, even Reid's, albeit a little less so than the others._

"_What are friend's for, Prentiss," Derek reassured her._

_They all turned to head into the restaurant, but stopped when they found two figures they hadn't noticed before blocking their way._

"_So, Dave, it looks like they decided to have a party out here and not invite us" JJ said from where she stood beside Rossi._

"_Well from the looks of them, I don't know if I wanted to be invited," Rossi joked taking in the disheveled and muddy appearance of his team members._

_The guilty party quickly sent unsure glances at Emily._

"_Oh well, I guess it's now or never," she said stepping to the front of the pack._

_JJ simply crossed her arms and cocked her head a little as if to say "I'm waiting for the explanation of why you look like you just competed in a mud brawl."_

"_JJ" Emily fumbled with the words as she stepped up to her girlfriend, "I um, well what we have been doing, well it all started,"_

"_Emily, baby you aren't making sense" JJ said closing the distance to take Emily's hand._

_Taking a deep breath, she brought the ring out from her pocket. _

"_Jennifer Jareau will you marry me?" Emily asked bending down on one knee. She had a whole speech planned out but hell, with the night she was having she figured she had better get to the point before some bird of prey swooped from the sky and ripped the ring from her hand._

_Letting out a tiny gasp at the beautiful ring, her lover held up to her, JJ quickly answered "YES, baby of course I will marry you!"_

_Forgetting everything that had transpired in the last hour, Emily swept JJ off her feet and into a breathtaking, passionate kiss._

A/N: I hope this lightened the mood a little. It did for me at least and helped me to get creative again so I can say that I will be updating on a regular bases from now on. Thanks for sticking with me.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Disclaimer: 1) nope, don't own Criminal minds. 2) I made up the roads except for the one on the gulf coast. 3)the medical stuff in this chapter is fairly accurate. thanks for reading. enjoy!

Chapter 7

"Reid give me something about the statistics here," Rossi called from the front seat as their SUV continued its assault down the road.

"Well according to the preliminary 2009 Automobile Accident Association, the most accidents occur along Interstate 10 but that runs along the Gulf Coast. That is followed by Highway 29 out in California and then actually the highway we took across Indiana, Highway 47 takes third."

"So your saying that 47 is our best guess at where they went off the radar if they were in some type of accident," Hotch glanced in his rearview mirror for confirmation.

"I mean it is possible and that's where I would focus a search, all the other roads we have taken have been nothing but straight stretches through corn fields," Reid confirmed with little hesitation.

"I'm going to call ahead to the Indiana Highway Patrol, tell them to start searching for a black SUV that ran off their road," Rossi was already dialing when Hotch stopped him.

"They are going to laugh in your face Dave and you know it. We don't have any evidence of what you are suggesting," Hotch told him.

"I don't give a damn, Hotch, and you can't tell me you don't think that is exactly what happened," Rossi shot back

"Look, Dave, I agree with you," he kept his voice calm, "but you know until we have some solid proof of what really happened, we are on our own."

Rossi shook his head, "Let's just hope that proof doesn't come at too high a price."

His words left an awkward silence hanging in the air. _What if they were too late? _

Determined not to find out, Hotch sped even faster down the still straight stretch of road as Reid sat silently in the back calculating the distance and time it would take them to reach Indiana. Cross referencing those with the statistics of finding the SUV along the 115 highway, Reid slumped down further in his seat. The odds were definitely against them.

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A sudden jerk and the sound of JJ gasping for air, pulled Emily abruptly from her light sleep.

"Christ JJ! baby what's wrong?!" she asked frantically still hazy from her short nap.

JJ didn't respond. Instead she continued to gasp for air as her chest heaved uncontrollably at its quest for oxygen.

Quickly easing her wife to the ground, Emily tilted JJ's head and gave her two breaths of air. It seemed to work as JJ's breathing appeared to return to normal, but as Emily allowed herself to relax a little, JJ began gasping for air again.

Leaning down again swiftly, Emily repeated the two breaths as she heard hurried footsteps approaching.

"Cupcake, what is it? What's wrong," Penelope asked trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know!" Emily cried before breathing for JJ again.

Morgan skidded onto the other side of JJ and bent down so his ear was close to his friend's heaving chest. He didn't need a stethoscope to hear what was happening to her right lung.

"Her right lung collapsed," he said meeting Emily's panic filled eyes.

"What do we do for that," Penelope asked from where she was now pacing before Emily had time to respond.

"We need to relieve the pressure," Derek told them bolting upright as JJ's gasping quieted for the moment.

"How are we going to do that out here," Emily questioned frantically.

"I don't, I don't know," he said running his hands down his face, "we need something, a tube or something to allow the pressure to escape so her lung can reinflate."

His words were interrupted as JJ's body begged for air. Emily swung quickly into action to relieve her wife's plight.

"We can't keep doing this forever," Emily whispered desperately as JJ quieted once again.

"I know, I know," Derek shot back more from worry than anger, " I just, I don't… WAIT!" his sudden exclamation made Garcia jump, "Just keep her breathing," he commanded as he sprinted off in the direction of the lake.

"Derek what, wait!" Emily tried to call after him.

Garcia knelt down opposite the brunette and put her hand over the one Emily clutched JJ's hand in. "Trust him Em, he won't let anything happen to her."

Derek didn't slow as he reached the lake's bank. Taking a deep breath, he dove under the merky water. His eyes adjusted slowly to the little light provided from the evening's sun as he swam towards his destination.

Finally his fingers grazed the door handle of the sunken SUV. Yanking open the door, he quickly glided his body over the back seat to the trunk where he hoped the pocket of air would still be. His wish was granted as he came up for air in the tiny pocket at the rear of the vehicle.

Gathering his thoughts, he went under again in search of what he had come for, praying it was still where he remembered. He slid back over the back seat and over the passenger seat, his hands searching frantically for the elusive object. Reaching down to the floorboard he caught hold of what he had come for. _Got it! _he said to himself before turning his body and swimming back through the open door.

Inhaling deeply on the surface, Derek didn't waste any time as he stumbled from the lake, object in hand.

The girl's both turned as a drenched Derek Morgan, ran to rejoin them.

"Derek, what the hell?!" Penelope stopped, growing momentarily speechless at what her fiancé had gone running like a mad man after, "is, is that my purse?!"

"Yeah baby girl," he said dropping to his knees and dumping out the contents of her Mary Poppins bag.

Locating what he was searching for, he quickly disassembled the ink pen leaving only the hollowed out center.

His eyes shot to Emily as he continued to ignore his fiancee's rants about what the hell he was doing.

The brunette hesitated before realizing just exactly what Derek was suggesting. They didn't have much of a choice. They needed to relieve the pressure building in JJ's chest cavity or her wife would stop breathing altogether.

"Ok," she said removing Garcia's jacket that was draped over her wife. Unbuttoning JJ's blouse, Emily opened it to reveal the massive bruising to the right side.

Derek shifted down to JJ's right side as Garcia knelt by her best friend's head seeming to finally grasp the situation.

"It's not as big as I would like," he said holding up the pen and reaching to remove his pocket knife from his back pocket, "but it's the only thing I could think of to work as a proper tube."

He stopped before making a cut into JJ's exposed skin and his eyes met Emily's. She gave him a reassuring nod to tell him she trusted him. He nodded back as Emily placed her hands on JJ's shoulders to keep her lover form moving during the painful procedure. Garcia began to lightly stroke JJ's hair, sending up a silent prayer to let their desperate plan work.

Derek steadied his hand before bringing down the knife to make an incision just under JJ's ribs.

JJ's eyes shot open at the explosion of pain in her side, and Emily had to press harder to keep her from moving.

"Shh, sweetheart, it ok, this will help. Focus on me baby, just on me,"

The tears in JJ's eyes broke Emily's heart as Derek made the incision deeper.

"Almost there Jayj," Derek told her as Garcia finished rubbing the pen with hand sanitizer to try and get it as clean as possible.

Handing it to him, Derek locked eyes with JJ. "I am going to push it through now." The pain filled look in her eyes is something he would never forget.

JJ did her best to give him a reassuring nod before turning her face to look at Emily.

"You know what we are going to do when we get out of this," Emil asked softly running a hand down JJ's tear filled cheek, "we are going to Greece, baby, like you always wanted." The tears began to trickle from her own eyes as she tried to keep JJ focused on her voice.

The sharp cry that escaped JJ's lips told Emily, Morgan had inserted the pen. "You are doing so good baby." The pain JJ had to endure tore open Emily's heart.

Morgan quickly wiped away the blood from the incision, before Garcia handed him the duck tape she had also carried in her bag to close the rest of the wound. He let out a sigh of relief as he undid the cap he had fashioned for the pen and the pressure from JJ's chest was released.

"That better baby girl?" Morgan asked wiping a tear from his friend's pale cheek.

"You've been watching McGyver with Hotch haven't you," she joked hoarsely giving him a feeble smile.

They all gave a laugh in reply as Emily placed a gentle kiss on JJ's lips, "I love you so much JJ."

JJ weakly reached up to wipe a tear from Emily's face. "I love you too Em, and I am holding you to that promise of a vacation." They both smiled.

Once the pressure was completely released from JJ's chest cavity and the lung had re-inflated, Morgan covered the opening of the pen once again. "The pressure will build up about every 15 minutes, so it will have to be re-released."

"Stud Muffin, how do you know all this," Pen asked scooting to his side.

Wrapping an arm around her, he smiled wryly, "Ah come on Mama, isn't it way more sexy for it to be a mystery?"

She couldn't argue with that.

As the sun sank over the horizon, the two couples settled in for the long night.

Derek glanced over to where Emily lay snuggled to JJ's uninjured side, a protective arm wrapped gently around her wife's waist. Her eyes carefully watching for any signs of distress as she moved to release the pressure from JJ's chest again.

He then looked down at the blonde in his arms and set a kiss on her temple. _We are going to get out of here,_ he promised them all silently.

He then glanced to the steep embankment that had stranded them since the accident. He knew tomorrow they were going to have to try and get back up it, they needed to find a way out.

He knew they were running out of time.

A/N: drop me a line and let me know what you think


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow I feel like it has been forever… oh wait, it has…. Sorry about the delay, writers block sucks and unfortunately its worse for my other story. Oh well, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 8

Breathing heavily, Derek slowed to allow Emily to catch up to him. The two had been trekking up the unforgiving embankment all morning and several times had found just how precarious their situation truly was. There was no way possible they would be able to get JJ up the steep slope, not with her injuries.

"Damn it," Emily cried losing her footing again.

Derek quickly reached for her and caught her around the wrist before she slid further down the hill.

"Thanks," she mumbled tiredly.

Derek nodded and then turned to survey what still lay ahead of them. They had been following the destruction path of the SUV as it had careened down the slope nights before. So far with the sun directly overhead indicating midday, the two had barely made significant progress.

Emily sat down facing in the direction from where they had just managed to climb. In the distance she could still see the two figures of her friend and wife by the large tree. JJ had made it through the night under Emily's watchful eye, and constant releasing of the pressure through her makeshift chest tube. Each time Emily heard the faint whisper of air as JJ's chest rose with a new breath, Emily allowed herself to breathe too.

Now, reluctantly she had allowed Garcia to take her place as protector as she and Derek went in search of help. It was their only option now. They all knew that without a sign of an accident on the road above, no one would even be looking for them.

Emily prayed that the rest of her team had realized their mysterious dropping from the map, and were somehow making their way to find them. Emily had let her mind wonder to what the statistics were of being found, smiling weakly when her mind told her Reid would probably know. She quickly repressed the thought, knowing the statistics didn't matter now, what mattered was finding a way out and getting JJ the medical attention she needed.

That is what kept her putting one foot in front o f the other up the treacherous incline.

She pulled up beside Derek, leaning back to rest against a tree trunk. He offered her the bottle of water, that they had found in Garcia's purse of wonder.

Giving a small chuckle as she took a swig, Emily met Derek's confused gaze.

"Just wondering what else your fiancée has in that purse of hers," she explained.

He laughed, "I was thinking if we looked deep enough we might just find a tent."

"Oh or maybe a hot tub, I could so go for one of those right now," Emily joked back.

"My baby girl is full of surprises, that's for sure," he shook his head grinning.

"Yeah, well she definitely came through," Emily said seriously, "just like you Derek. I want to…"

"Em, please don't thank me, it's my fault we are in this to begin with."

"Derek, please tell me you don't believe that," Emily stood to face him.

"But it's true," he admitted not meeting her eyes, "I should have let JJ switch with me when she asked, it's my fault she is laying down there with a damn pen in her side keeping her alive!"

Emily winced as she heard him give a humorless laugh before continuing, "I should have been more alert, more vigilant, but no I'm Derek fucking Morgan, egotistical bastard that thinks he his invincible. And look," he yelled to Emily motioning back to where Garcia and JJ were, "look what they hell I've done, I've done this to you, to my fiancée, and my best friend! "

"Derek stop" Emily's tone halted the dark agents rant momentarily, "You didn't know this would happen, you didn't purposefully put us in this situation.."

He moved to cut her off, but the glare she sent him kept him quiet.

"Now, what's done is done, but sitting on this damn hill having a pity party for yourself is not helping anyone, least of all those two amazing people down there. And they would both be smacking you over the head, if they just heard what you told me and you know it. So I am going to tell you this one time Derek Morgan, and one time only."

Derek was stunned into silence

"You are the reason we are all still alive. It's because of you that me, your fiancée, and your best friend ARE still here, do you hear me,"

He nodded

"Good, now if you are done with your self-wallowing, I suggest you get your ass moving up this hill, before I kick it the rest of the way up."

And with that, a rejuvenated and suddenly not so tired Emily Prentiss barreled past him up the embankment.

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"Reid we need to narrow it down further," Rossi said not looking up from the map splayed across his lap.

They had made it to the Indiana highway early that morning, but as it reached noon there had been no sign of an accident, or even an inclination of the other black SUV.

Hotch had slowed their speed, allowing for time to search the surrounding area for any type of sign. So far they hadn't seen a thing. Another cluster of crosses passed by them on the side of the road. _Damn this road has got to be the place, _Hotch thought silently.

"That's it!" Reid shrieked suddenly moving forward between the two front seats, "the crosses!"

"Reid there have been crosses at various places all along the road," Hotch said keeping his gaze searching out the window.

"Exactly," the boy genius continued, "crosses or some type of memorial indicate an accident."

When he got the 'duh' look from his superiors, Reid went further to explain.

"We concentrate on the areas where there are a lot crosses, statistically that is where the most accidents have occurred, it's how we narrow it down," he finished excitedly.

Rossi grinned, the kid really was a genius, "OK we start from the beginning, pull over at every gathering of five or more crosses and canvass the surrounding area,"

Hotch nodded before turning the vehicle 180. They had already made one pass of the highway and turned for their second pass a couple miles back. They would start from the beginning and hope their plan worked.

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"Garcia…..Garcia……..GARCIA!" JJ tried to wake her dozing friend.

"What…What happened?" the tech analyst twitched awake suddenly, making her glasses go crooked on her face.

JJ tried to suppress her smile, seeing she had nearly given her friend a heart attack.

" Can you breathe Sweet Pea? Do I need to release the pressure? Is it time already?" Pen asked frantically.

JJ nodded now trying to keep from laughing.

"Oh Cupcake, I'm so sorry, I don't know I must have… I must" she couldn't quite get the words out as she removed the cap to allow the pressure to ease from JJ's chest.

"you just fell asleep, Pen its ok, really." JJ tried to ease her friend's panic attack.

"What?! No it's not ok! What if I couldn't have done it in time?!" she yelled breathlessly.

"Garcia…Garcia," JJ waited until Penelope had calmed down, "Its fine, you did it in time, see" JJ took a deep breath for emphasis, "no harm done."

JJ laughed as her frazzled friend let the reassurance that she was ok sink in

"I need a drink!" the blonde with bright pink highlights exhaled, plopping back onto the grass next to JJ.

"What no liquor cabinet in that purse of yours Pen?" JJ smirked.

The two laughed before settling into an easy silence.

"So Pen tell me how you are envisioning your wedding, and don't even think about saying you haven't thought about it because I know that's not true," JJ raised her eyebrow.

Garcia gave in without a fight, "Well Butterbean, I think I want it to be something simple. No big church, or 300 table set reception, just something small where we can celebrate it with the people that matter most."

"Wow Pen," JJ said genuinely surprised, "I always thought you would be one of those go all out bridezilla's"

"Oh don't get me wrong, Jayj, I will be a bridzilla, I just don't want all the fuss that goes with it. "

The tech analyst grew uncharacteristically serious.

"if this whole thing has taught us anything, it's that we can never take for granted what we have. I don't want to even think what could have happened if just one little thing had gone differently, and maybe that tree wasn't there to stop us at first," she explained sadly.

"Pen, it's never about the "what ifs" it's about the "what are's." We ARE going to make it out of here, and when we do we ARE going to plan you the best wedding anyone has ever seen," JJ placed her hand on top of her friend's.

Garcia smiled before squeezing JJ's hand back. "Well it will only be the best wedding if you are my maid of honor"

JJ's eyes lit up. "Really Pen?"

"What do you mean 'Really' silly girl, of course I want you to be my maid of honor!"

"Thanks Pen," JJ said smiling though trying desperately to stifle a yawn.

"Get some rest, Cupcake, my maid of honor needs her beauty sleep," Garcia whispered as JJ gave in and drifted off.

As Garcia slowly stroked her sleeping friend's golden hair, she couldn't help but imagine what her wedding would be like. There would be flowers everywhere… maybe they could have it in a garden even… with white chairs set for the quests…. and an arbor to say their vows beneath… and her friends and husband by her side. As long as she was surrounded by the people she loved, nothing else really mattered.

A/N: was it worth the wait? I know this is just kind of a filler but who knows maybe someone will find help in the next chapter : )


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow so I am getting pretty terrible at this updating thing. I am truly sorry about that and to you loyal readers beg your forgiveness. This story is coming to a close, perhaps only two or three chapters left from here. I hope you stick it out with me even though I probably don't deserve it : )

Chapter 9

"There's another set," Rossi pointed to the upcoming curve that held at least seven crosses.

After starting again from the beginning, the trio had not found anything that resembled even a tire skid next to a grouping of crosses. They were now more than halfway down the highway, and they all knew if their plan didn't bring some sign of their friends soon, they would be back to square one.

Hotch pulled the SUV alongside the narrow road with Reid heading across the road to search and Rossi to amble about the road itself looking for anything that might suggest a vehicle losing control.

Rossi bent to examine a marking just short of the centerline. It was only about one foot in length and black streak certainly wasn't conclusive, but it was definitely something. As he was about to call the others over, he was stopped short by Reid's shriek.

"Guys you have to see this!" came the voice from just over the edge of the embankment.

Hotch and Rossi both took off in a sprint to join the young genius.

"Christ!" Rossi shot out immediately seeing the destruction of the trees and foliage that clearly cut a path down the slope.

"This has got to be them," Rossi was already careening down the incline in the wake of whatever had left the destruction. The older man heard his two colleagues following suit and he already knew what they were thinking.

_If this is them, what chance did they have of surviving whatever happened_

And as much as David Rossi hated to admit it, his mind was screaming the same thing.

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Whistling the tune to Snow White's "Off to Work We Go," Garcia bent down to pick up another piece of wood. After seeing that JJ was well into the land of slumber, she had decided it would be a good idea to replenish their firewood supply before it got dark. Derek had warned her that he and Emily might not make it back to camp before night fall.

Picking up another piece with her good arm, she shoved it into her already overflowing purse. It had doubled nicely as a bag to carry the wood in, after dumping all the previous contents of course.

Garcia took off back in the direction of their camp, pausing momentarily to look out over the lake. _You know this place is actually rather beautiful, if you don't consider how we got here, _she considered.

It was true. The hidden lake amongst the surrounding forest, did give a whimsical sense to their home away from home, almost "fairy tale-ish"

Discarding the bag of wood, the tech analyst made her way around to the other side of the large oak.

"Hey Jayje remind me again why I like to come with you guys when you leave on cases. Next time I'm staying safe and secure in the Bat Cave," she joked before noticing JJ hadn't stirred at her rant.

Something didn't seem right to Penelope. She knew JJ needed to rest, but she had been asleep for a while now. Kneeling again to check the chest tube, Garcia released the pressure again, but realized JJ didn't inhale as deeply as she had been.

Somewhat alarmed now, Pen placed both hands gently on JJ's shoulders and shook her blonde friend softly.

"Buttercup, time to wake up," the fear edging into her voice when JJ's eyes remained closed.

She shook harder.

"Come on Jayje this isn't funny," she was getting frantic now.

She desperately tried to think what Derek would have done. She leaned down and placed her ear over JJ's mouth. _Shit, she's barely breathing…_

Moving as swiftly but as carefully as possible, Garcia pulled JJ up against her own body hoping a more inclined position would help relieve her chest of the fluid that seemed to be in her lungs. She let out a heavy sigh when she saw JJ's chest move deeper.

"Oh thank God!," she whispered trying to regain her nerves.

Although JJ was breathing better, the media liaison still didn't wake.

Garcia quickly wrapped her arms around her friend's body hoping on some level JJ knew she wasn't alone.

"I'm here Jayj, just hang on a little bit longer ok," Garcia cooed as her own body began to tremble slightly with emotion. _I can't lose you. Please be ok, please. _

She didn't wipe away the tears the gently cascaded down her cheeks, content to hold her friend in her arms and continue to reassure her everything would work out.

For the first time, though, Garcia couldn't quite convince herself that everything would turn our alright.

And that scared her more than anything she could ever imagine.

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"How long do you think we have?" Derek asked slightly out of breath referring to the retreating sun on the horizon.

Emily stopped her climb to stand beside him.

"An hour, maybe two at the most," she admitted regretfully.

"Shit," Derek said under his breath.

"We don't have a choice now, we have to keep going," Emily stated matter of factly setting off again up the hill.

They both knew she was right. They had no choice but to keep climbing the embankment and hope they reached the road soon. They had passed the tree that bore the scars of its encounter with the SUV nearly an hour ago and surmised the road couldn't be that much further. But now trekking on the pavement was still no where in sight.

Derek remained rooted in place lost in thought as he continued to gaze into the distance.

"Derek." Emily called to her motionless colleague.

"huh" he turned to see her already 100 meters away.

"They will be okay," she said with a sad smile.

She knew that's what her heart had to believe, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to keep going.

He nodded, glancing back once more before following her retreating form.

30 minutes later…

"Did you hear that?!" Emily whispered pulling to a halt suddenly

"Hear what?" Derek asked before he heard a sound coming from just up the slope.

"That!" Emily exclaimed.

Derek quickly ran down their options in his head. _What kind of harmful wildlife is there in Indiana? _

The sound of rustling again pulled him from his thoughts.

"We should probably get out of the open," he said pulling Emily behind the nearest tree. The sound was definitely getting closer.

The two lay in wait praying whatever it was out there would move along quickly.

The sound grew closer and closer and then seemed to stop just on the other side of where they crouched in hiding.

"Christ, now what?!" Emily breathed worriedly

Derek readied himself and saw Emily begin to do the same sensing they weren't about to go down without a fight.

As the rustling drew around the side of the tree, Derek motioned for Emily to attack on three.

When his last finger fell the two tackled the unsuspecting form.

In a tangle of limbs and confusion thoughts turned to odd realizations in their minds.

_This doesn't feel like a wild beast_

_Kind of a lanky thing_

_This thing screams like or girl, or kinda like….._

_Holy Shit this things sounds just like………._

"REID!!!" Emily and Derek cried in unison seeing what or in this case who exactly their predator was.

The boy genius could only stare that deer-in-the-headlights look as realization too set in.

"What the…." Came another voice from the darkness.

Derek and Emily whipped around quickly to see Hotch and Rossi stumble from the darkness.

No one moved, everyone wondering if the spot they found themselves in was indeed reality.

Then as quickly as the silence had sat in, it was shattered.

"Derek! Emily!" Reid exclaimed happily jumping up to envelope his missing friends in a hug.

Pulled from the shock by Reid's tight hold, Emily matched his hug never being so happy to see anyone in her entire life.

Hugs were spread among the rest of the group before tears and laughter turned into heated questioning from the newly arrived trio.

"What the hell happened?"

"Where are JJ and Garcia?"

"Where is the car?"

Derek took a deep breath and put his hands in the air to halt the onslaught. He glanced to Emily as the others quieted.

"How far are we from the road," she turned to Reid.

The genius was silent for a moment as he seemed to calculate their travels, "Roughly 1.42 miles."

Derek let out a genuine laugh, "Roughly?"

"Do your phones work out here?" Emily continued quickly.

Both Rossi and Hotch pulled out their cells and shook their heads.

"We lost service about 30 minutes ago," Rossi explained confused about what had happened.

"We need to go back there then!" Emily told them quickly.

Placing his hand on Emily's shoulder, Hotch moved to face her. He didn't need to be a profiler to tell him she was hanging on by a thread. Her disheveled appearance and blood stained clothes clearly explained what had happed would not be something he would enjoy hearing.

"Emily, we will I promise, just as soon as you tell us what happened," he explained softly.

Emily seemed to be weighing her options of grabbing the cell phone from his hand and running up the hill herself, and telling her boss and friends what had happened.

Thankfully Derek stepped in to do the storytelling keeping her rooted in place for the moment.

When he was finished, Rossi, Hotch, and Reid looked on with looks ranging from confusion at how the group had survived such an accident and ones of complete loss as to what to do.

Emily bent her head to her chest, as she felt Derek's hand in her own.

"We need to get help," she tried not to break. She had held on for so long, she couldn't lose it now.

Rossi placed two firm hands on the brunette's shoulders. "We are going to get help, Emily, and I am not going to let anything happen to anyone on this team."

Emily could only nod as the tears began to stream from her eyes. The eldest profiler quickly gathered the breaking women into his strong arms.

Regaining her composure, Emily smiled her appreciation to the legendary profiler and looked to Derek.

"We need to get a rescue team here and fast, there is no way JJ would make it up this embankment. "

"Derek, you and Hotch head back to the road and call rescue. The rest of us will make our way back to camp. We can figure out where to go from there, and maybe Reid can help make JJ more comfortable. " Rossi instructed in full boss mode.

No one questioned the plan as they moved off in their designated directions.

Making her way back down the treacherous incline as fast as humanely possible, Emily silently thanked God for her friends and prayed their arrival didn't turn out to be too late.

A/N: dun dun dun.... just kidding but feel free to drop me a line.


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